Alma Boyle
"I started practicing yoga in 2000. My niece, who was training to be a yoga teacher, encouraged me to try yoga as I was searching for something that would make that connection to body, mind and spirit, yoga opened up the way for me. Practicing yoga regularly and experiencing its benefits in the whole of my life led me towards becoming a yoga instructor. After completing a 100 hour foundation course in yoga in 2009, in 2010 I completed a 300hr Yoga Instructor Course qualifying me to teach at Beginners and General Yoga Level in Asana, Pranayama, Relaxation and Meditation techniques. In 2011 I obtained my Yoga for Kids Diploma and in 2014 under the teaching of Paddy Hamill, I obtained my 200 hr Diploma in Level Two Yoga Teaching again at YTTC now known as Santosha Yoga Training School in Lisburn Northern Ireland. In 2014 I also began training in Yoga Meditation under the inspirational teaching of Michael McCann, completing my training in 2015 also at Santosha Yoga Training School. I am eternally grateful for the wonderful teachers who have encouraged me on my yoga journey. In Northern Ireland I taught yoga for 5 years at a local community centre and also Yoga and Meditation to staff and students in the school where I worked. I enjoy working with people and finding ways to help people experience the benefits of yoga and meditation whatever age and ability, that is the great gift that yoga has to offer, everyone can benefit from it. As well as the health benefits, yoga offers opportunity for self-reflection.
My classes offer an integrated approach with emphasis on a safe practice, correct alignment, flexibility, stress relief, physical fitness and breathing practices. All practitioners are welcome, from complete beginners to the more experienced. I am eternally grateful now to have the opportunity to teach yoga again here in the US, and to be able to share my yoga journey at Spacious Heart Yoga Studio seeking ways to share what I have learnt and continue to learn."
Angela Nisley
Angie Nisley’s teaching style is challenging and exploratory, fusing mindfulness and breath with many different movement modalities in addition to yoga including Feldenkrais, Alexander technique, pain science research, sports research, and psychology. She hopes that people leave class feeling more freedom to explore movement without fear, and that people feel more embodied and resilient. People often leave class saying that they realized something new about how their bodies work and how they move.
Angie has long been an athlete, and her yoga journey helped her journey past pain and injury. Since beginning yoga, she has felt better both mentally and physically, and she believes it has helped her become a better wife, mother, and friend.
Credentials & Qualifications:
200-Hour Anusara Teacher Training with Katherine Schaefer and Sianna Sherman, 2011
100-Hour Yoga Teacher Training with Mimi Ray (2012)
50-Hour Yoga Intensive with Doug Keller, 2013,
8-Hour Resistance Training with Jules Mitchel and Charlie Reid, 2015
50-Hour Yoga Therapy and Science of Stretching with Jules Mitchel, 2016
300-Hour Yoga Therapy and Science of Stretching with Jules Mitchel, 2019
Ann Hostetler
"I first encountered yoga in the 1970s during college when my roommate and I attempted to teach ourselves asana from Richard Hittleman's Yoga for Health. Since then, I have practiced yoga on and off in various forms and styles during various stages of my life, until 2005, when I began studying and practicing regularly at Spacious Heart Yoga in Goshen, Indiana with Kara Schmidt. As someone who has embraced yoga at midlife, I find it a joy to help people at all ages and stages of life to nourish themselves by attuning to heart, breath, and alignment. I completed my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training with Kara Schmidt and Emily Miller at Chaturanga Holistic Fitness in Chicago in 2014, and have also studied with Mimi Ray, John Friend and Sianna Sherman. I have been teaching Yoga 1 and Gentle Yoga at Spacious Heart since 2007, and most recently taught a "Triple Jewel" yoga, meditation, and writing workshop at Friends' General Conference in California, Pennsylvania in the summer of 2014. An English Professor, poet, and writer by profession, I enjoy the interplay of language and the body in yoga teaching, and love teaching classes in which there are no papers to grade."
Gerardo Morales
Gerardo Morales is a promoter of native cultures. His area of expertise is in the Mexica culture from his homeland, Mexico. As part of his formation, Gerardo studied reading and interpreting native Mexican codices. In this path he found Aztec dance 21 years ago and has practiced ever since. He co-facilitates our Aztec Dance and meditation class with Zuleyja Prieto.
Gerardo has taught cultural workshops to school age children that involve plastic art and Aztec dance. He is co founder and active member of Calpulli Huehueteotl, a native Mexica dance and study group in Puebla, Mexico. Gerardo is interested in the environment and participates in several ecological projects with groups such as Arqueología en Amalucan, in Mexico; and the Michiana Heritage Corn Project, in Goshen, Indiana. Gerardo currently trains in Mexica dance in Chicago, Illinois, where he also takes an Ancestral Mathematics class.
“Aztec dance changed my life. It awakened a genetic memory that has helped me live a balanced life.”
Heather Horst
Our resident acro yoga practitioner, Heather Horst considers herself more of a host than a teacher. Sometimes she says she is a “flight attendant.” Her hosting style is playful, peer-based, trust-building, and empowering. Students describe her as fun, patient, and enthusiastic. She hopes people leave class feeling powerful, connected, and joyful. Often, people leave class saying, “Wow! I had no idea I could do that!”
Professionally, Heather is a nurse and massage therapist. Her background in anatomy informs her ideas about alignment, comfort, and strength.
Halle Steingass
"In 2016, shortly after two major operations, I started practicing yoga while doing voluntary service in Seattle, WA. I quicklyfell in love with the physical aspect of yoga, finding it to be an essential part in my healing. In the years following, my personal practice deepened as I grew to appreciate a more holistic lifestyle. In the winter of 2020, I completed my 200 hr YTT under the instruction of Derik Eselius (Denver Underground Yoga) in Denver, CO. At Spacious Heart, my goal is to design flow-based classes, which encourage people to tap into, and strengthen their body while providing a safe space for reflection and inner work. My hope is to help empower students and collectively work towards finding a greater sense of connectedness (between bodies, hearts, minds, relationships, and environment) through movement and breath-work."
Kathleen Bowers
I started practicing yoga in 2009 as a way to help cope with some health issues. I discovered so much more than the physical practice and benefits I was expecting, and found the connection between body, mind and spirit that I didn’t even know I had been looking for. After completing my 200 hour training at Green Tree School of Yoga with Teji Ruth Dilley and Kim Sellers in 2010, I dabbled in teaching yoga only to friends and colleagues. Working in victim advocacy within the criminal justice field, I am no stranger to witnessing the effects of trauma on our bodies and minds. Also a long time dancer, I have become interested in exploring how yoga, expressive movement and creative arts could be helpful in releasing traumas stored in our bodies and minds. Exploring that interest, I completed training in May 2019 with Trauma Recovery Yoga in Las Vegas, Nevada. My intention for my classes is to provide participants a safe space for connection, creativity, and empowered choice while learning self-awareness and self-regulation skills.
Liz Shenk
Liz Shenk is a RYT 200 hr Sattva Vinyasa and 100 hr Sattva Yin instructor from Goshen, Indiana. After practicing yoga regularly on her own for over 10 years, Liz studied under the guidance of Sattva Vinyasa creator Dani (Vani) McGuire at Pranayoga Institute of Yoga and Holistic Health in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and became a certified instructor in 2018. For her, practicing yoga on a regular basis was the first step in a journey towards physical and mental well-being, helping her to recover and heal from insomnia, depression, and anxiety. In her classes, Liz believes in creating space for acceptance, exploration, reverence, and community.
Michelle Miller
Michelle’s teaching style is mindful, gentle, slow, accepting, and alignment-based. She welcomes all students with every skill level and body type. She hopes that people leave class feeling more open in their bodies and more present in their lives.
Her yoga journey began over 20 years ago as a purely physical practice, as a way to counteract the muscle tightness that had developed from years of distance running. She was searching for a way to help her body become more flexible and balanced. As her understanding of yoga developed, she began to appreciate the many ways the practice helped her feel balanced in all areas of her life. Learning about where she held tension and emotion in her body and how her breath can inform her understanding of her inner experience has helped her become more present to her life as it unfolds.
Off the mat, she is a nurse, mother, wife, traveler, meditator, gardener, and runner. She enjoys connecting with patients and students in a way that makes them feel welcome and comforted.
Credentials & Qualifications:
Dharma and Yoga Training, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, 2018
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training, 2016 & 2017
Reed Yoder
Bio coming soon
Sara Klassen
Sara’s teaching style is soulful, reflective, creative, and nurturing. Her classes tend to be fluid while also having specific and careful cueing. The classes she facilitates are welcoming and appropriate for all levels. After each class, Sara’s goal is to leave each student feeling rejuvenated, whole, grounded, refreshed, and reconnected with their health and vitality.
“I intend to create classes in which every movement and moment of stillness is an opportunity to connect with your whole self, reflect, and become more of the truest you.” There is no ‘right way’ in my classes,” she says.
Sara began dabbling in yoga and mindfulness in 2010 and these practices have become integral parts of her self-care routine and spiritual life since.
200-Hour Sattva Yoga Teacher Training, 2017, PranaYoga Institute of Yoga Holistic Health
100-Hour Sattva Yin Certification, 2018, PranaYoga Institute of Yoga Holistic Health
95-Hour Prenatal and Postnatal Certification, 2018, Amala School of Prenatal Yoga
Theresa Hochstetler
Zuleyja Prieto
Zuleyja Prieto is a medical doctor and professional massage therapist. Through her practice, Zen Natura Medicina Integral y Masaje®, she and her team offer integrative health services, health education and community health in Puebla, Mexico. In her approach to life and healing, Zuleyja highlights aromatherapy, dance, self-care, and a connection with nature as core elements.
Before coming back to Goshen, Zuleyja lived in central Mexico for twenty years. She has always felt drawn towards Mexican culture, and started studying and practicing Aztec – Mexica dance fourteen years ago.
“Aztec dance is so profound. There is a center, (the heart, fire, sun), and dancers circle around like the stars and planets, all in balance, connected, but conquering their own space. The drum is medicine, the steps have so much meaning to them; it is a prayer in movement.”
Zuleyja hopes that by sharing the knowledge and practice of Aztec dance in a safe space such as Spacious Heart Yoga, and in bilingual format, we can all benefit from positive intercultural experiences much needed in this community.